Hold My Beer
by Rhearenee
Summary: Modern AU. One fated encounter with the weirdest people ever soon lands her on a week long vacation with said weird people. All Lucy wanted to do was to relax and enjoy life without her father breathing down her neck. It was naive for her to think that with her company it was going to be peaceful. Still she doesn't regret even one moment.


_Something fun and light to unwind from all of the serious works I've been writing. Sometimes you just gotta appreciate the chaos that is the Fairy Tail gang._

 _I had a lot of fun with this one if not trouble at some parts with the dialogue. It really was a challenge to myself to see how well I could crowd control in a story.  
_

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Her eyes felt heavy and her whole body was just begging for her to let it rest. Lucy had spent the better part of her evening in the library until the librarian had told her to get lost, so she can close. She was nowhere near done studying. Her finals were coming up and she wanted to be prepared. She had had her nose buried in her books for so long that the letters were still swimming across her vision and her head was buzzing from all the intake of information.

A well night's rest was in need. She had no idea how late it was, but from her internal clock she could guess that it was near midnight. It was also the reason why she had taken a short cut to the dorms through the park. Usually she preferred to walk through the streets when coming from the library and window shop, every now and then entering a shop when something caught her interest. Okay, maybe the pastry shop was an another huge reason too. They had damn good apple pie that she couldn't resist even when she was trying to watch her weight.

The night itself was pretty warm for late May, hardly a breeze, not a cloud in sky. The air was a bit humid, though. She could see the dew on grass glistening from the street lamps and the moon.

She was halfway through Crocus park when loud noises caught her attention. She was too far to make out words, but there was a group of people shouting things and cheering and it sounded like was coming from the direction she's heading towards. Hmm..could it be Hisui and her group of protestants? Whatever. It's not like she cared, she didn't even know what Hisui was protesting against.

It was almost the end of the school year already and she'd hardly managed to make any friends. Her only sort of friend probably was Lisanna from her economics class. For the most part it was because she was too focused on her studies and avoided people that made trouble. Another part was because her father liked to bring her along to his business meetings a lot as a way to help her account with the lifestyle she'll have to undertake after he retired.

When she was finally close enough to the rowdy group she made sure to avoid their path and walk quietly past them. It wasn't Hisui, but a group of college kids shouting and drinking. She saw a couple of familiar faces from her classes, but for the most part she didn't pay any attention to them and kept her distance.

Everything was fine until one of them smashed into her, spilling their beer all over her top and her messenger bag. Baffled Lucy just stared at the spill on her grey shirt. Her eye twitched.

Those assholes!

If her books and notes were wet someone will pay. She was too angry to check, but just the notion of that thought made her want to stab a bitch. Balling her hands she walked up to the group. She was about to grab the first person in her sights and give him a stern talking to when that said person got showed into her nearly making her fall over. Thankfully no beer was spilled this time. Still it didn't make her any happier.

She was about to open her mouth and spout a string of profanities when the guy that got pushed into her showed something in her hand. "Hold my beer." He cracked his knuckles and pointed towards an another guy only in his underwear. "You're on, Elsa!"

Dumbfounded Lucy stared only now noticing the odd appearances of the people around her. She was so immersed in her own thoughts that she hadn't paid attention to their state of undress or over-dress, in some cases, before.

The guy that had made her test her balance had pink hair, a tropical button-up with palm trees on it and a white scarf around his neck. What the fuck? She already saw the raven haired man who was only wearing his underwear. Another one with the scary look on his face and way too many piercings in his face had a frickin' Santa hat on his head. He didn't look particularly happy about it either. She also noticed her friend Lisanna among them wearing a bright purple boa. The other three in their group were equally as weird looking, but what really caught her attention was the brunette in her underwear, shouting the loudest with an actual, giant as fuck, beer glass in her hand. Looking around she noticed that others had either a can or a bottle in their hands.

Wait! She watched the brunette flail her arms around, the glass in her hand catching her attention again. Was she seeing things or was that thing actually shaped like a rubber boot?

Looking down at her own hand she saw that the bottle the scarf guy had given her had nothing special about it apart from being a bit cold.

"What the hell is going on?"

Was she dreaming? She knew that she was a bit worn out, but not that much. This was just weird.

When she saw the scarf guy and underwear guy strip she averted her eyes, blushing slightly. She so does not want to see that. From the encouraging shouts from others she could deduce that those two had dared each other to swim across the park's pond. Why? At this point did she even want to know?

Letting her eyes roam across the rowdy bunch she caught Lisanna eyeing her weirdly for a moment before recognition set in. With a smile she practically skipped to where she was, that awful purple boa bouncing with each skip. "Hey, Lucy! I didn't know you were here." Her words sounded a bit slurred. No doubt the girl had drunk a couple of bottles.

Lucy sceptically eyed the can in Lisanna's hand then the bottle in hers, everything clicking into place. They were out in the park in the middle of night acting like miscreants and drinking themselves stupid. It was nothing unusual for college kids, but doing it in the park where it was illegal was taking it a step too far. She wanted to voice her opinions, but for the second time that night she was cut off.

Lisanna had grabbed her free hand and dragged her in the middle of her friends. "You should play with us, Lucy. It'll be a lot of fun."

Lucy eyed the bunch of them noting that nothing looked normal here. One of the guys with black hair, who had his hair in a ponytail was wearing a pair of goggles and bright green fingerless gloves. He was visibly arguing over something with a blonde guy who was missing a shirt. The only person who looked relatively normal sans the bright temporary tattoo of a flower on her cheek was a girl with white hair. She was obviously trying to break up the two arguing guys, but was failing miserably.

Biting her lip Lucy looked back at Lisanna, who was eyeing her expectantly. Lucy should really get out of here before she gets in trouble. This looked sketchy as hell.

"Well?" Lisanna was getting impatient and the pitch of her voice was rising.

Crap. She really, really needs to get out of here. "I...I have to go." She turned around and walked. She would have almost made it too if she hadn't been stopped by an arm snaking around her neck, smell of alcohol invading her senses.

"Hey, looks like we have a new player." It was the girl with the abnormally large beer glass. She led her back to the circle, putting her in the middle and sizing her up. Her loud announcement caught the attention of others.

Lucy visibly shrunk in her spot, avoiding their eyes, especially those of that pierced guy (he was scaring the crap out of her with his mean scowl). This is not what she wanted to happen. She didn't even have a clue what they were talking about.

Lisanna smiled at her. "What do you say, Lucy? Do you wanna play truth or dare with us?"

Truth or dare? That's what they were playing? Well, that explained that weird dare the scarf guy and underwear guy partook in. Still she didn't know anyone here except for Lisanna and she was beat. She could feel her eyes hurting from the lack of sleep.

"I really don't know anyone here and I'm-"

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me introduce you everyone." Lucy's eye twitched at Lisanna's interruption. What! Was it cut Lucy off day? It was starting to grate on her nerves and considering that she was tired she was really cranky, thus possessed a really short fuse, she didn't have the patience for this.

"That grump over there is Gajeel." She pointed to the guy with the crazy mane of hair and piercings. He huffed at Lisanna and her introduction, crossing his arms and leaning back on the bench he was sitting on. "That girl standing between those two idiots is Yukino." She gestured towards the still arguing duo and Yukino ho was still trying to break them apart. "The blonde dumbass is Sting and the other is Rogue."

"Okay," Lucy drawled awkwardly. She just wanted to get back to her dorm already. She's still wet and it was a slightly chilly night.

"Don't forget about me," the brunette girl who still had a hold on her exclaimed. Her close proximity to her was making her slightly uncomfortable. Lucy smiled stiffly at her, shortly chuckling herself. "I'm Cana." She beamed at Lucy and took a swig from her almost empty glass.

"Oh, and those two dorks are Gray and Natsu." Lisanna ended her introductions by pointing to the two guys that were exiting the pond both of them glaring at each other.

Lucy had to avert her eyes again, this time a more prominent blush settling on her face. Gray was butt naked and Natsu was only in his underwear. By now she's gotten enough eyefuls to last her a lifetime. From the corner of her eye she saw Natsu dress and Gajeel yell at Gray to put his clothes back on as well.

What the hell has she gotten herself into?

"So what do you say, Lucy, wanna play with us?" Cana finally let go of her, picking the beer bottle from her fingers and downing it's contents in one go.

Finally having free hands Lucy hugged herself. Biting her lip she let her eyes roam over the group of people that were waiting for her answer. The attention she was getting was unnerving her. By now Yukino had managed to calm the petty argument and the trio had joined the main group around the bench, shortly after followed by Natsu and Gray.

She could just say no and leave...but they all seemed so friendly and happy. It's already the end of her first year in college and she still practically has no friends. Maybe this is her chance to make some. From her contact with Lisanna she knows that she's genuinely a sweet and kind person. Her friends couldn't be much different, right? Okay, maybe Gajeel wasn't as nice (his disgruntled gaze still unnerved her).

"Umm...what are the rules?" If their appearances were anything to go by then there was more to the game. It wouldn't hurt to try, right?

The group cheered and Lucy had to duck out of the way unless she wanted to get an another beer spill on her person. Lisanna out of all of them looked the most enthusiastic, her grin almost splitting her face. By now she couldn't help but laugh a bit herself as well. Their glee was quite infectious.

Lisanna clapped her hands, looking her in the eyes. "Okay, first rule is that anyone can give whoever they want a dare or a truth question as long as others agree on it." Lucy nodded. She wasn't wrong about the game being a lot different from how truth or dare is viewed traditionally. "Second, if you refuse you either have to take off an item of clothing or put on clothing. It's your choice. But you can't refuse a dare or a question two times in a row."

Well, that certainly explained a lot. Lisanna herself looked like she was sporting a male t-shirt along with her purple boa.

"Uh, okay, but what do I have to wear if I refuse?" It was an another thing that had been bothering her. From where did they pull out all of those weird extra items?

Lisanna was thoughtful for a moment, taking in her surroundings. "I guess we got carried away a bit."

"What?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, it's just that Mira, my sister, has a lot of props. She's a theatre major. We live together along with my brother Elfman. Somewhere along the way we got way too into the game and started daring each other crazier and crazier things, thus leaving my flat looking like couple of weirdos." She giggled, looked at Gajeel and Rogue, who were sitting together on the bench and started laughing harder, bending over.

"Tch. Like it matters. We were running low on beer anyway and someone had to go and get it." Only now Lucy noticed that besides Gajeel were two new six packs of beer. I guess that explained their constant supply of alcohol.

Natsu, Cana and Sting joined to Lisanna's laughter, while Yukino tittered hiding her smile behind her hand, with Gray and Rogue grinning. Gajeel just grumbled, popping open a beer bottle with his teeth and taking a swig from it. It was like they hadn't realized their predicament before. Alcohol did funny things to people.

In that moment Lucy realized that they were indeed an interesting bunch. Crazy as hell, but entertaining nonetheless. She wouldn't mind befriending them. Besides she hasn't had mindless fun in ages. Her father always kept her on such a strict schedule that she barely had time for herself. He didn't approve of her participating in college parties either and she never found a reason to disobey him. She guessed that maybe once she could stick it to him and let loose. And she can always sleep later.

"Okay, I'll play."

Cana went quiet when she heard Lucy speak. She grabbed a bottle of beer from Gajeel's pack, letting him open the bottle for her and showed it in Lucy's hand. "Then drink up, girl. You have a lot to catch up." Grinning Cana got a bottle of her own. Somewhere along the way her beer glass had gone missing. Why she had it even in the first place was the real question Lucy was wondering about.

Thankfully by now others had lost interest in her and were chatting amongst themselves, more or less. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Natsu unlike others hadn't grouped up and instead was still standing there, dripping water and staring at her curiously.

She masterfully avoided eye contact with him. Even if she was participating now in their game, she still was pissed about her wet shirt and sticky skin and he was to blame for all of it. She knew it was petty of her, but dammit she was cranky and tired, and annoyed on top of being excited.

Ugh…such a nasty cocktail of emotions.

Taking Cana's suggestion Lucy took a swig from the bottle, letting the sour taste roll over her tongue. Bleh, it tasted horrible like always, but if she wanted to forget about the seriously annoying sticky feeling she's gonna need it. For good measures she took an another mouthful. When a pleasant warmth spread through her she knew that the alcohol was doing it's job. She felt energetic again. Maybe she should take an another swig just to get that buzz going faster.

"Alright, Lucy! Truth or dare?" Cana had slung her arm around her shoulders again, pausing Lucy in her actions, grinning at her like she won the lottery.

Her thoughts were a mess at that moment and she blurted the first thing that popped up in her mind. "Uh...truth?"

Cana smirked mischievously and Lucy didn't like the look. Did she just throw herself under the bus? "With how many men have you had sex with? Or women, I don't judge."

At that moment everyone's eyes were at her. Their scrutinizing gazes made her blush. No one was against such a question. She probably should have expected this when she first said yes. Everything comes with a price. Then again these people don't really know her and she could lie. How would they know if she told the truth or not? The warmth of the brunette that was holding her with a strong enough grip told her that she would probably know. She was too close to her and Lucy wasn't the best liar around. There wasn't any point in lying either.

Truth it is then, even if she doesn't particularly like to think about sensitive topics such as this. Some part of her even thought that Cana asked such a question on purpose, to see if she'll bail on them or not. It was like an unspoken rule that one does not simply ask women about their age or how many sexual partners they have had. Not that Lucy had something embarrassing to hide.

"None."

That seemed to break the ice that had settled upon them, but Lucy still felt slightly uncomfortable. Cana was still smiling at her, but now she finally let her go, giving her a pat on the shoulder. She was finally one of them. Everyone resumed the game.

She was left alone for a few minutes, just watching others play the game. She couldn't stop the giggle when she saw the grump Gajeel imitate a chicken courtesy of a dare. She was just starting to feel like she belonged a bit until Cana spoke up again, seeing her not do anything.

"Why don't you play with someone else? It'll be fun. If they pick truth just ask them the most ridiculous thing you can imagine or if they pick a dare just make them do something stupid. That usually does the trick." She pushed her towards the crowd, giving her a wink.

Lucy rolled her eyes, but compiled. She seriously didn't know what she'll ask her target to do, but she'll figure something out as she'll go. She just needs to chose a target. Roaming her eyes over the crowd she settled on certain pink haired, beer spilling idiot. She didn't see who actually spilled their beer on her, but she was pretty sure that it was him. She felt a bit petty and childish for targeting him, but he felt like the best choice to pour her anger on, since he actually sort of deserved it.

She finished up her bottle and threw it aside, too buzzed to care where it landed. She adjusted her bag strap on her shoulder and planted her hands in her sides. "Natsu, truth or dare?"

Surprised he turned to her, cutting the conversation between him, Sting and Gray short. He sized her up, his scrutinizing gaze eating away Lucy's burst of courage. Mavis, she probably looked like a mess. "Dare, I guess."

Lucy smiled. She had hoped that he would pick that. "I dare you to kiss the ground." She smiled wider at the incredulity on his face. She was also glad to note that neither Gray or Sting had any objections to her dare, in fact it looked like they were as eager to see this go through as she was.

"Seriously? The fucking ground?"

"Yup." She crossed her arms and motioned with her head for him to get moving.

He scowled, but got down on his knees anyway. Lucy bit her lip to keep a hold on herself. He really was going to do it, she couldn't believe it. The motion itself was short and fast. She barely saw him press his lips to the damp asphalt before he was back on his feet and cleaning his mouth in his hand.

"Bleh. That was really fuckin' dirty." He glared at her.

Lucy could only smile back at his complaining. "I bet."

He didn't appreciate her joke, but Gray and Sting did. Both of them cracked up with laughter, pointing like children at Natsu and making kissy faces.

She wouldn't admit it, but it felt really darn good to get her revenge on him for her wet shirt. Her smile only wavered when she saw Natsu grin back at her with an equally mischievous smile. Uh, oh...rats. There was nothing stopping him from humiliating her back, there wasn't a rule against it.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare." She was feeling adventurous, plus she couldn't just back out and pick truth, the challenge was clear in his eyes and Lucy never backed down from a challenge.

The gleam of approval was unmistakable on his face. "I dare you to give a long and passionate..." he paused, seemingly pretending to think. His pause unnerved her, he was doing it on purpose, enjoying the slight panic on her face. "...hug to that statue." He pointed to the statue across the lake. It was some kind of memorial statue to someone named Arcadios, that's all Lucy knew.

"Alright." That wasn't so bad. She had expected something gross and horrible.

Ignoring Natsu's huge, satisfied smile she strutted down the path she first came from, Natsu, Sting and Gray following her. They probably wanted to see her do the deed up close or just wanted to make sure she wouldn't run away. Like in hell she was backing down now.

Coming closer to the statue Lucy noticed that it was perched on a pedestal and the long nosed man was posed in some sort of a victory pose, with his sword out, pointing at the tree hems and his other hand propped in his side. Perfect pose for her to hug him. Though the statue was a bit larger than a normal human. No worries.

Stopping in front of it Lucy took off her bag and shoved it into Natsu's hands, not wanting for it to get wet from the grass if she put it on the ground. "Time me." She pointed towards Sting before she turned around and calculated the best way to get on the pedestal.

She dimly noted that from across the lake others had noticed their leave and were paying close attention to her actions.

Sighing and strengthening her resolve Lucy put her foot on the first stair step that led to the statue. She was seriously going to break the rules with this, but her alcohol ridden mind couldn't find it in herself to care at the moment. She was going to pull this through. She clumsily pulled herself up on the pedestal and huffed. She cleaned her wet hands on her pants and threw a smug look back to Natsu, who was carefully watching her every move. She warped her hands around the midriff of the slightly damp statue, wincing slightly from the coldness it emitted.

"Put more passion into it!" She recognized the voice as Natsu's, edging her on.

By now others had made their way to the little clearing as well and were shouting encouragement words to her.

Frowning Lucy propped her left leg higher and hooked her arm through the statues arm, hugging it from the side now and grinding into it, while dragging her other hand down the statue's armoured chest. That action earned her some catcalls.

"I can already hear the porn music." Oh, and don't forget the suggestive comments from Cana and Sting. The whole lot of them were laughing their heads off.

To drive the image home she turned her face into utter pleasure, while commenting how big and strong her newly acquired stone friend was. She moaned in mock pleasure and let go of the statue. Running her hands down the front of it she carefully made her way down the pedestal, the shouts and laughs from others making her join them on their laughter. She couldn't believe that she just did that and actually enjoyed doing it too.

Making her way towards Natsu she noted that he was smiling broadly at her, shaking his head slightly – approving her performance. She plucked her bag from his hands and took the beer bottle Rouge offered her. "How was that?"

"Damn, Lucy! That was hot. I didn't know you had it in you," Cana said, while some others agreed with her.

Lucy grinned in response. Her front was wet again and now probably dirty from the mossy statue, but it was well worth it. She really felt like one of them now. She hadn't experienced such joy and chaos in ages, she felt like she was levitating on cloud nine.

The group of them moved along the park, making their way back to Lisanna's flat, while on the way subduing each other to more ridiculous dares or questions. Everyone was drunk enough that passing on a dare didn't cross their minds, thus the chaos that ensued could probably wake up the whole neighbourhood. Lucy didn't doubt that if her father found out about her actions he would probably blow a gasket. Here she was, the heiress to the Heartfilia fortune, drowning herself in beer and running two laps barefoot around the pond while holding Natsu's hand courtesy of a dare from Lisanna.

Yep. Her father would definitely get an aneurysm just by looking at his used to be prim and proper daughter run around like a headless chicken, all dirty and drunk.

"Oh, man." Lucy was panting by the end of her run with Natsu around the pond. Her feet hurt like hell, but despite that her grin wouldn't leave her face.

"You're so slow, Luigi." Unlike her Natsu had barely broken a sweat. By the second lap he had dragged her along with him to match his speed, nearly making her fall on her nose. The pond wasn't even that large. She should seriously look into that gym pamphlet a course mate of hers gave her a month ago.

"It's Lucy." She had corrected him on her name three times already and it never seemed to click with him that he had gotten it wrong. She let go of his hand and mock glared at him. "It's not that hard to get right. It has only one syllable, how do you mess that up?"

He grinned at her, sticking out his tongue. "I don't know what you are talking about, Luigi."

Okay, now he was doing it on purpose.

She punched his arm, eliciting an exaggerated 'ow!' from him. She ignored his whining on how she hits like a whale and pointed ahead of them, to the retreating backs of their friends. "C'mon, lets go before we get left behind." Before Lucy could put back on her sandals Natsu stopped her.

"Hey, you actually seem kind of familiar. Have I seen you before somewhere?"

Leaning back up she deadpanned. "Well, no duh, we go to the same school. I've seen you around a couple of times." Sometimes alcohol made her mean, but thankfully Natsu was not fazed by it.

He crossed his arms and rubbed his chin in thought. "No, somewhere else. I swear I've a seen someone that looks like you in one of those complicated magazines Lisanna has."

Her eyes widening she realized what Natsu was talking about. About a year ago her father got interviewed by Forbes. The really enthusiastic photographer for the magazine had a field day with their mansion. It also just happened that he got a picture with her as well. Other than that she hasn't made any appearances in magazines or anywhere else widely available to the public. "Yeah, that might have been me."

Natsu perked up at this. "That's so cool. I didn't know you were famous."

She laughed sheepishly and put on her sandals. Damn, her feet were dirty. "I'm really not, but my father is kind of well known." She started walking towards their friends, who by now had disappeared from her sight. They really were eager to get back if they left them behind or they were just too drunk to notice anyone missing, which is the most likely choice.

Natsu caught up with her and lazily stuck his hands behind his head, matching his step with hers. "Still it's pretty cool. I wish someone would have written an article about my dad."

Lucy tactfully ignored how he spoke about his father figure in past tense, knowing how painful it could be to talk about deceased parents and huffed instead, thoughts of her father invading her mind. "It gets dull after the third time. I just wish that I could get away from it."

"Your dad?"

"No. I mean the lifestyle. It's suffocating. If my father knew what I'm really doing right now he would probably send me back home and get me a private tutor." Just the thought of it made her shudder. She already had to beg for him to let her come to Crocus college. He was so against her going to public school that she nearly ran away from home, but somehow one of their maids, Virgo, had managed to coax him into letting her go with the promise that she'll behave and won't stain the Heartfilia name.

Natsu hummed in response, pondering over what she had said. He was quiet for a while and Lucy almost forgot that he had been near her until he spoke up again. Damn alcohol and it's effects. "Can't you just get a place of your own? I mean, you aren't underage anymore, so he really can't control what you do."

Lucy sighed. He had a point, but she couldn't just run away like that. She didn't hate her father. Sometimes she hated what he did, but she didn't detest him. It also had been ingrained in her since birth that she's supposed to be the heir to Heartfilia fortune and continue what her parents built. She'd hate to disappoint her mother and let all her hard work that went into the company die. If it meant suffering through a controlling father and endless meetings she would take it.

Natsu noticed how her mood suddenly had turned solemn and tried to cheer her up. "Let's go before Stripper drinks all of the beer." He took a hold of her hand with a grin and made a run towards where they had last seen their friends.

She barely caught her footing from his abrupt jerk. "Hey! Slow down!" Her feet still hurt from the gravelly ground that had been around the pond and running again wasn't really helping with the pain.

They didn't get far with their running. A torch blinded them and a voice stopped them in their tracks. "Stop right there!" When Lucy's eyes adjusted to the light she noticed a police officer standing behind the light.

Crap!

Natsu's thoughts aligned with hers, except he voiced it in a more colourful way. Not waiting to stick around to hear what the cop wanted from them, Natsu tugged her around and they ran the other way, the shouts from the cop following them. What the hell was happening?

At that moment Lucy was too scared to really feel the pain in her feet anymore. All that was going through her mind was a string of curses and why was there a cop in the park. Could it be that someone had actually heard or saw them in the park and ratted them out? Shit. That was very possible. The fear of being caught edged her on and Lucy stepped up her running, but it was to no avail. An another cop was waiting for them at the edge of the park, a torch of his own in his hand. They had noticed him too late and with inertia they crashed into him and his squad car.

The cop quickly gathered his wits and grabbed both of their arms, holding them in place. "You two are coming with me for disturbing the peace and drinking in a public place." Lucy tried jerking her hand out of his grasp, but unfortunately the cop was a lot stronger than he looked. She felt a small whine leave her lips.

As she was being showed into his car with Natsu all Lucy could think was how utterly screwed she was. This was not how her night was supposed to end. Mavis, her father is going to really have an aneurysm when he found out about this. How could she screw up like this?

The first cop that had been running after them got into the car as well. "Did you catch the others?" The man was out of breath, panting and wiping sweat off his forehead. His partner only nodded a negative. "Darn. I hoped that this time we might catch all of them."

Lucy didn't know what to think. Their friends had successfully managed to get away while she and Natsu had gotten caught. Just her rotten luck. At least the others were safe from this. She cursed who ever called the cops to the seventh layer of hell. She really should have known that this might happen.

On the way to the station Lucy nearly started crying, but a couple of soothing words and Natsu's grip on her hand managed to hold off the waterworks. She didn't know how he managed to do it, but she was thankful for it. In the end she nearly bit through her lip in apprehension of what will happen to them now. Will she and Natsu be put in jail? Oh, Mavis, what if they call her father. She didn't know. She just knew that whatever will happen will be put on her record and she'll never be able to get it off, which sucked major balls.

At least Natsu was more calm about this, with only a slight crease in his eyebrow. Unlike her. She was shaking like a freaking leaf, it being her first time being arrested. It just made her wonder if Natsu had experienced something like this before or he was just calm like that by nature. Somehow she doubted the latter. From what she had seen of his personality while they were playing the game he was anything but calm. No matter his past she was just glad that she wasn't alone in this.

In the end they got administrative charges pressed against them. Lucy barely contained her emotions when the cop had told her that. They either had to pay a fee or spend 24 hours in a containment cell. Not wanting to face the humiliation that was sitting in a cell for a day she pulled out her debit card and paid the fee for both her and Natsu. It was at that moment when Lucy was thankful that she was well off enough to pay a few thousand jewels on the spot.

It was like a nightmare come true.

When Lucy got out of the station she didn't get far before she finally burst into tears. Sitting on the stair steps that went to the police station Lucy hid her face in her hands, crying her guts out. Her father is going to be pissed with her when he finds out. He told her not to stain the Heartfilia name and she just did that. He's going to pull her out of college and lock her up in the house as some kind of a punishment. She just knew it. The one time she decides to ease up and enjoy herself she ends up messing up. Life really hated her.

Suddenly someone really warm sat besides her and put their arm around her. "It wasn't that bad, Lucy."

She laughed bitterly and let him run his hand across her back in soothing circles. She wanted to tell him how screwed she was, but she just didn't have the heart right now to talk about her father. Instead she leaned into him, the warmth from his body warming her up. For the past hour she had been walking around wet and dirty and the cold air had finally caught up with her. She was a mess in every possible way.

"By the way, thanks for paying for me as well." She looked up just in time to catch him gingerly grin at her. At that moment when the officer had asked her what she would do she had paid for both of them without even thinking about it, her mind in too much distress.

Clearing her face a bit she croaked out a laugh. "No problem. It's the least I can do for my friends."

At that she saw a sparkle in his green eyes. "So we're friends?"

"Yes. Aren't we?" She had a moment of panic where she thought that she had misunderstood their intentions and she was just a fool that was being brought along for a ride.

His easygoing laugh reassured her. "We are. You might just be one of the weirdest people I've met and that's saying something, since I'm room-mates with the Stripper queen." Lucy scoffed. "But still, you are a lot of fun. I like you, Lucy."

Lucy looked away from his gaze, her face tinting pink. No one had ever really said that to her. Then again she never really had friends like Natsu. At least something good came out of this nightmare of hers – she gained friends. She might have gotten drunk and disturbed the peace, but at least it had been worth it. Quietly she smiled to herself. She will do whatever it takes for her father not to find out and if he does she won't let him have his way. She's an adult and she can make her own choices.

"Thanks Natsu."

He hummed in response, letting the quiet drag on. It was nice. Lucy let her head rest against his shoulder, the past couple of hours catching up to her. They probably looked ridiculous like this, sitting in front of the police station. She definitely was dirty and her hair had slightly fallen out from its side ponytail, plus she probably had huge bags under her eyes. Natsu looked weird all over, with the white scarf, opened button up tropical shirt, knee length, white shorts and his ridiculous pink hair. She giggled.

"What's so funny?" He broke the silence, peering down at her form.

"Us. This whole situation."

"So, you're not upset anymore?"

"No."

"Ah, well I was thinking..." he trailed off, making Lucy perk up from his shoulder. She didn't like the tone he had. What was he planning now? "Since you just bailed me from jail, I thought that you could join us on our trip to Caracolle island at the end of the school year."

"What?" Surprised she leaned away from him. "I can't do that."

Natsu hummed, nodding he looked up to the sky. "Sure you can. It's the least I can do for you." He looked back to her and grinned.

"I mean, I don't want to impose on you and your friends. We still haven't had enough time to get to know each other."

He waved off her excuse with a chuckle. "Nonsense. You won't be imposing on anything. Plus Gajeel cancelled and we have one extra ticket left and who else is better to replace him than you."

Lucy bit her lip, pondering her choices. She's never been to Caracolle island. Before her mother passed they used to travel a lot as a family, but her father had never deemed Caracolle good enough for them to visit it, saying that it's a lousy tourist attraction not worth their time. She didn't have anything important planned for the first month of her summer break either, apart from some extra classes that she could easily skip. She was in a lot of trouble with her father already. Adding something extra wouldn't really change anything.

Natsu saw her hesitate and decided to add something more to convince Lucy. "Take it as my thanks for paying my fee as well. I'd never me able to pay it on my own."

She avoided his gaze while she thought this through. Hanging out with friends sounded so nice. Before the cops caught them she was having the time of her life. Even if she didn't know any of them that well yet she kind of wanted to go and learn more about her newly acquired friends. But her father wouldn't allow it, she knew. Sighing she rubbed her head. Who was she kidding she really wanted to go and her father won't be able to stop her. She wanted a vacation, she at least deserved that much.

"Okay, I'll go."

Natsu whooped and gave her a side hug. "Awesome. I knew you wouldn't refuse."

Lucy just laughed in response and listened to him chatter about who else is going to go and when they're going to leave, and how much fun they're going to have.

She definitely didn't regret her choice to forego sleep and join the rowdy bunch in their weird drinking game. For the first time in her life she was able to make friends outside her mansion, with the promise of having her first vacation in years. Maybe her life didn't suck so bad after all.

* * *

 _Tell me what you guys think so far. And thanks for reading._


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